Tuesday, May 31, 2011

When ever I’m gone for more than just a few days, there is always a mountain of mail to go through. And getting home late Sunday afternoon, and knowing there was no mail delivery on Monday, I have to admit that I put the whole pile out of mind until Tuesday morning when I needed to get that mountain tackled, book orders sent out, all the other errands in a row…

One thing I noticed right away was this beautifully fun multicolored bubble envelope!

I opened it up…wondering what it was….((It is no where near my birthday, mother’s day is long gone, and I couldn’t think of who would be sending a gifty like this!)) and this is what I found!

Lookie Lookie! HOME MADE SOAPS!! And I am so happy she put there in the first line, right in the first sentence…that these are INDEED soaps, not fudge ;c) ((Remember the incident with the dreamsicle fudge I thought was soap?? LOL!)) Thank you Janet O for the kind thoughts, the wonderfully inspiring letter, and your delightful comments on my blog in the past! I thank you, my skin thanks you!

Janet is a relatively new blogger, but she’s been scrap quilting for 25 years and soap making for 15, so I guess we can say she keeps it Clean and Scrappy! :cD You can find Janet’s blog HERE!

Let’s see….what ELSE came in the mail??

It’s the July/August issue of Quiltmaker Magazine which is just arriving!

In this issue, you’ll find my rendition of the Spoolin’ Around block!

Make them in recycled plaids and a variety of neutrals, or REALLY color up your summer by mixing bright colors with black and white prints…..color ONE SIDE of each spool in a complimentary color, such as the solid red shown, and see the alternating pinwheels appear!

This is a great block for digging into your box of 2” strips and 2” squares!

So what else went on around here today? NOT ENOUGH! But I filled every minute and I’ve still gotta finish packing the trunk show for my 4:15am departure in the morning, so this is a quicky!

We went to Michael and Harriet’s to drop off the baby quilt and enjoyed a wonderful Kenyan meal! And I have to tell you --- ((Wish I got pics, but I restrained myself!)) Harriet looked beautifully 9 months pregnant, wearing white capris and a gorgeous fuscia blouse…..when she opened the gift bag that held the quilt, it just SUITED HER! Really. She couldn’t have dressed better to match this quilt..LOL!

And then, as they examined it, you should have heard the exclamations. Oh. These are African fabrics! Look…at this one! and This one..and THIS ONE! When Michael saw the family fabric I had included in the borders…he got teary eyed. He couldn’t believe there were words in Swahili in the border, Love, Family, Unity ---Honestly, truly, this was just THE. BEST!!

And being a quilter is the best. Nothing else gives me this feeling than the simple gesture of giving the gift of a quilt to someone who is not expecting it. Nothing is as rewarding as knowing that this quilt will be loved and cherished and worn out with the using. Besides, I told them, how could I make Michelle another quilt if she didn’t use this one up first?

So Harriet is all set to be induced on Thursday EVENING. Why Thursday EVENING? Because Michael is DH’s assitant plant controller and they won’t be done with month end until Thursday evening. LOL! I told her --- Welcome to my life! When Jeff was born, things weren’t moving along fast enough, and DH was pacing the hallways, so I sent him BACK to the office for a few hours until I needed him. Or I swear, *I* was going to lose my cool! :cD

By the time I get back from Houston, there will be a new member to this beautiful family. And in a week, Harriet’s mother will be arriving from Africa to stay the month. Then, maybe then, I’ll get pictures of the baby with the quilt to share with you.

And I’m off…to go finish packing, to get an early night’s sleep, to get up at the cranky-crack-of-dawn, to make my way toward a Texas Adventure. I hope you’ll stay tuned for the ride!

Did you have a good weekend? I hope that if you ARE in the US, and were able to use that three day weekend to your best advantage, that you are feeling recharged, energized, refreshed and ready to tackle the world! It’s a short work week! But if it feels short, how come we are scrambling to fit just as much stuff into it?!

It was a total unwind day for me….even though I was busy here in the basement getting caught up on paperwork and website stuff, I still enjoyed a bit of stitching!

The baby quilt for Baby Michelle went into the machine! And it’s a good thing…DH called at lunch time and asked me to join him and Michael, the father-to-be, at a local place for lunch, and I found out that Harriet is being induced on THURSDAY!?? Thursday as in, THIS WEEK Thursday?? Yes. OY! That is unless she goes into labor on her own first…so the rush was on!

The quilting was done, and as it came off the machine, I could really see the quilting texture! All it needed was a bit of trimming and binding…….maybe a couple chick flick movies on Netflix was in order for the evening?

This close up is before binding….and after it was bound, I washed it with TWO color catchers, just in case ANYTHING decided to be runny….I was working with a lot of scraps that had been given to me, and I didn’t wash them all first, it would have been too hard to do it with small pieces. I crossed my fingers, and I held my breath, and I stayed up late just to be sure this thing wouldn’t sit wet in the washer over night!

I hung it over the quilting machine rails to dry overnight….this morning I fluffed it in the dryer. NO BLEEDING! ((OH THANK HEAVENS!!))

I love how the stitching sinks in and all you get is crinkly texture after washing! LOOK at those colors!! Oh, I used Keryn Emmerson’s “Moon Flower” panto for this quilt…PERFECT!

Simply labeled. I have been trying to use up all the old white on white or cream on cream pieces that are left in my stash ((I just really don’t like that stuff and haven’t for years now..it needs to go AWAY!)) as labels. The easiest label ever is to take an 8” square and fold it in half, stitch it into the corner before binding. The binding covers 2 corners, and all I had to stitch down was the fold…

The Quilt Delivery is TONIGHT! We are heading over to Harriet & Michael’s house at 6:30pm. Oh, I hope they like it! who would think I would worry about a quilt being “too” African and not baby-enough?

And..last thought...if a GIRL baby turns out to be a BOY baby...is this too pink? LOL! TOO LATE!

The rest of today will be filled with catching up on mail order and bank stuff and other errands in preparation for my flight to Houston in the morning! EARLY MORNING flight..like…I have to leave the house at 4:15am for my 5:45am boarding time? Urgh.

Okay, Woodlands and Kingwood area Quilters! You should know by now that any time I fly to Texas I’ve got two things on the agenda…..BBQ & Tex Mex! be ready! :cD

Monday, May 30, 2011

I left Winchester in the wee-smalls yesterday morning. The GPS said it would take me about 8 hours to get from Diane’s door to my own, and knowing that I was going to also lose an hour as I crossed from central time into eastern time…I didn’t want to make this trip seem any longer than it really was!

I also hoped to avoid as much Memorial Day travel traffic as I could….as it was, I stopped at a Mc D’s to use the restroom, and had thought of treating myself to an ice tea, but a BUS of students had stopped there and the lobby was mobbed….so I gave up on that idea, and drove down the road a few more exits to the NEXT one.

And LOL at the pic at the top of this page...I was looking for an image to depict Road Weary ---and it gave images for Road Kill instead. Do yourself a favor and do NOT do an image search for ROAD KILL! ((It wasn't pretty!)) But still....this is very much how I felt yesterday afternoon when I finally pulled into my own garage--

The drive was SO beautiful…I just LOVE this! I know those who live in Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho and Utah only consider these as molehills! And there IS a difference, but I’ll take beauty wherever I can find it, and believe me..the smoky mountains are magnificent with a beauty all their own!

I’m playing catch up, and this time I’m on my home computer….not the laptop. I’m still debating whether to take the laptop to Geek Squad to see if they can resurrect my pictures, but really, there wasn’t that much on there ---and everything that I did want, has already been uploaded as slide shows, or is on the blog anyway…the stuff that is “really” lost, was the stuff I didn’t want to upload. So…? I think I’ll sit it out a while.

Saturday’s Virginia Bound class was AWESOME! We had close to 26 or 27 people just sewing away, and the different fabrics and color schemes were so great to see!

See that first photo?!?? Look closely! One of the gals was doing a red/black/white version, and after my lecture the night before, she went back IN to her stash and cut up that Millenium Y2K stuff, deciding that it really WAS not going to get any better if she held on to it longer, and she worked it right in to her project! Whoooo! Love it!

And here we have those Treadle-Divas hard at work! Johnny and Diane REALLY putting their pedals to the metal!

I’ve got another post to write with some more container/gadget ideas, but that is going to have to wait for later…

I chose a reddish blotchy pinky that will work just FINE for the backing! I pre-washed it last night…it looked like it could have a bit of excess dye in it….one of those very saturated ones? So just to be safe, I did.

This morning I tackled the batting from the box I should call “Loaves & Fishies!” It never goes down…honestly! I keep piecing and piecing out of it! That’s okay, I don’t mind --

I hope to get the baby quilt quilted and bound before I leave for Texas on Wednesday! That baby is due ANY DAY now, and I want to have it done so Dave can take it to work and give it to Michael and Harriet for me. Or – Maybe we’ll wait until Baby Michelle makes her appearance and take it over together – IF ((and that’s a big IF!!)) I’m in town when she arrives!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

I made it home from Winchester Tennessee….had my nap, unloaded the car, and set about to put all the digital stuff RIGHT in my world!

And while sorting through what I sort through ((Oh is there EVER a lot to sort through!!)) I came upon THIS goodie!

Review

“Blood of my Brother is exciting, full of passion both of hate and love. It is a story that will captivate and keep you in your easy chair reading until you reach the satisfying conclusion. It is a great book deserving of a 9 out of 10 rating.”– Mainly Mysteries“A tense thriller.”– The Mystery Gazette

“Blood of My Brother is a fast-paced thriller with twists and turns that defy reason. James LePore has again written a novel of suspense showing his maturing style is in even better form. A best seller for sure for those who love thrillers and a good mystery!”– Crystal Book Reviews

“I love a good suspense novel, and that's exactly what I got with James LePore's Blood of my Brother…. This is a fast paced novel that will catch you right from the beginning…. All of the characters bring something different and intriguing to the table, and you'll follow some twists and turns as you are introduced to each of them. James LePore has delivered a great novel for those who love thrillers and suspense! Definitely check this one out!”– Confessions of a Real Librarian

“It’s the action that keeps you turning the pages, but it’s the bigger issues LePore works into the story that will keep you thinking even after you’ve finished.”– Musings of an All-Purpose Monkey

“Readers of taut action will thrill over Blood of My Brother's chase sequences and rundowns with a Mexican drug cartel, while those readers who enjoy suspense stories with a bit of mystery will find no complaints. Blood of My Brother whet my appetite for action, excitement and international intrigue and I was left satiated upon the book's conclusion. I would recommend Blood of My Brother to any reader looking for a solid story with action, intrigue and mystery. You won't be disappointed.”– Psychotic State

Description

When Jay Cassio’s best friend is murdered in a job clearly done by professionals, the walls that he has built to protect himself from the world of others begin to shatter. Dan Del Colliano had been his confidante and protector since the men were children on the savage streets of Newark, New Jersey. When Dan supports and revives Jay after Jay’s parents die in a plane crash, their bond deepens to something beyond brotherhood, beyond blood. Now Jay, a successful lawyer, must find out why Dan died and find a way to seek justice for his murder.

Isabel Perez has lived a life both tainted and charmed since she was a teenager in Mexico. She holds powerful sway over men and has even more powerful alliances with people no one should ever try to cross. She desperately wants her freedom from the chains these people have placed on her. When Jay catapults into her world, their connection is electric, their alliance is lethal, and their future is anything but certain.

Once again, James LePore has given us a novel of passions, intense moral complexities, and irresistible thrills. Filled with characters you will embrace and characters you will fear, Blood of My Brother is a story about a quest for revenge and redemption you won’t soon forget.

I’m in the mood for some action, some intrigue, some mystery, some twists and turns, and NO FROO FROO! So I downloaded Blood Of My Brother right away. As always, check to see that it is still free before you click download as prices can change without warning!

I’m off to PUT AWAY what I unpacked from the car……the most DREADED part of the trip! And I’m going to enjoy my evening just being home…I see a root beer float in my near future!